Fatma Dişli Zıbak – Today’s Zaman
April 24 is the day when Armenians commemorate the incidents of 1915. Instead of the “g-word,” Obama used the phrase “Meds Yeghern,” which translates as the “great tragedy” but which is actually the proper rendering of incidents of 1915 in the Armenian language. In last year’s message, Obama used the same expression, which satisfied neither Turks nor Armenians. This April 24 commemoration led many to reflect on the background of the incidents in the wake of Obama’s speech and the reactions to it.
“Let me just say from the start, the 1915 incidents are unfortunately incidents which should make both Turks and Armenians bow their heads stemming from our concern for fellow human beings. Yet, this should not be the case only for Turks and Armenians who endured those incidents, but also for Turks and Armenians today who keep on talking about the pain experienced during those days to justify their hatred for each other,” says Star’s İbrahim Kiras. He thinks Turkey’s approach to the 1915 incidents has always been strange because the country for long time acted as if nothing had happened, but now some circles in the country have adopted an exaggerated approach regarding the 1915 incidents. In saying this, he is referring to a group of Turkish intellectuals who recently released a statement where they announced that they recognize and condemn the “genocide” perpetrated on Armenians by some “racist” and “murderer” Turks. Kiras suggests that almost all the historical information in this statement is wrong and is not based on facts but is just what those intellectuals believe. “In order for you to have an idea about the incidents in 1915, you should know what happened in those days. This is at least what I expect from those who make clichéd statements every April 24,” says Kiras.
As long as Turkish and Armenian relations do not normalize, Turkey’s fears of April 24 commemoration ceremonies will continue, according to Vatan’s Okay Gönensin. “Instead of becoming anxious every April 24 about what word the world or the US president will use to describe the incidents of 1915, we should seek ways to re-establish peace with a nation with which we lived in peace for centuries. Peace will harm nobody. As long as hatred and anger exist between nations, those who benefit from this will win. Let it be called the ‘great tragedy,’ but Turkey should stop having to go through this trauma every year,” he says.
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